Dickson: we are working hard to fix Bayelsa

Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has just celebrated his six years in office by commissioning some projects. At the ceremony, he also rekindled hope in the ability of the ‘Restoration Government’ to tackle the socio-economic and political challenges confronting the Southsouth state. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.

Expectations were high when Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson succeeded Timpreye Silva. There was division in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The two camps worked at cross purpose. Residents groaned over the failure of infrastructure battle. Government made efforts, but they paled into insignificance. It is more expensive to construct roads in coastal state than in other states. Health care centres were in poor state. Many children were not in school. Also, militants threatened the peace of the state.

Dickson, a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, assumed the reins at a difficult period. He came with a message of hope, promising to preside over a ‘Government of Restoration.’ Despite the predictable political distractions, the governor, according to observers, has made a difference in the last six years. But, in Bayelsa, it is not yet Uhuru.

There appears paradigm shift in governance in Bayelsa State. Dickson’s revolution in education, health, infrastructural development and agriculture is tending the tide of poverty and changing the fortune of the state. Oil-rich Bayelsa, despite its natural endowment, has been on the fringe of development for too long. But, a new foundation of progress is being laid by the former policeman, lawyer and one-time member of the House of Representatives. Dickson said he is working hard to fit the state.

The governor’s policies, programmes and achievements may cast him in the mould of “a lone PDP progressive governor.” His implementation of free education programme, his welfare policies for labour, his style of fighting the infrastructure battle and his sense of probity and accountability mirror his antecedent as a member of the now distressed Alliance for Democracy (AD), which he served diligently as legal adviser, and his emotional attachment to the progressive creed.

To mark the six years of the ‘Restoration Government,’ Dickson invited former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the commissioning of some laudable projects. They include the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital at the Government House, the Drug Mart along Hospital Road, the Diagnostic Centre at Imgbi Road, and the ‘Glory Land Drive,’-all in Yenagoa, the state capital; a dual carriage way with bridges and street lights at Igbogene, the state capital; and the Bayelsa Aquaculture Village at Yenegwe. In September last year, the Bayelsa Specialist Hospital carried out a historic vascular recanalization surgery and other complex corrective heart surgeries. Dickson explained that the workers deserved the hospital because health is wealth. Other innovative steps include the Health Insurance Scheme, the establishment of the pharmaceutical centre.

The 500 Pond Yenegwe Fish Farm has 5,000 tons of fish. It provides 1,000 direct and indirect jobs for youths; 3,000 tons of fish are to be exported annually. It has a mechanized fish drywer with drying capacity of 500 fish daily.

At the ceremonies were former Minister of Water Resources and deputy governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Mukthar Shagari, former Minister of Information Labaran Maku, Bayelsa State Deputy Governor John Jonah, House of Assembly Spaker Konbowei Benson, PDP chieftains, traditional rulers, youths and women groups.

Excited at the performance of the governor, Obasanjo said: “Dickson has performed. The difference between what I saw here 12 years ago and now is the difference between day and night. Your governor knows where he is going to. Out of 100 percent, if you can get 60 percent plus, it is okay. Bayelsa is comparatively secured.”

Like the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) governors of the Southwest, Dickson has blazed the trail in education in Bayelsa through his free education programme. Students now attend public schools free of charge from primary to the university. The administration has committed N70 billion to the construction and supply of learning facilities to schools. Twenty five constituency boarding schools have been established. Scholarship and grants are available to indigent students to stud abroad. A beneficiary of the scholarship even came top in the final examinations for his set at Lincoln University, United States. The investment in education has yielded dividends for the state, which has started recording improved performance in the secondary school certificate examinations. The schools are also well equipped to foster a conducive atmosphere for learning. A good example is the Ijaw National Academy, Kiama. Its students were drawn fom Ijaw-speaking states of Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Akwa Ibom, and Delta. “This is a breeding place for future businessmen, scientists, inventors and technologists,” said Dickson, who said over 1,000 students of the school are on government scholarship.

The baseline for the educational development was the signing into law of the Education Development Trust Fund Bill, which provides that 10 per cent of the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and one percent of all contracts funds should be committed to the scheme.

The Commissioner for Education, Jonathan Obuebite, said government has decided to use education to fight the ills of the society. The principal of the academy, Charles Johnson, said education will secure a good future for the youths of Bayelsa, urging students to utilise the opportunities. “Education is your future and the government has determined that you should have the opportunities. You should think as the future leaders of Bayelsa and Nigeria,” he told the students.

Echoing him, Obasanjo, who described Dickson as a man of vision, said: “There can be no development without education. After food and health, the next important thing is education.

In the last six years, Bayelsa has bidden farewell to business as usual. Accountability has become the watchword. The governor renders account regularly to stakeholders. There is no room for sharing money in Government House. Countryman Governor Dickson has not permitted opulence in the corridor of power. Gone are the days of kleptocracy. Through financial discipline, transparency and the blockage of loopholes, the resources available are channeled to development.

Describing the governor as a reformer, Information and Orientation Commissioner Daniel Iworiso-Markson said his style of governance is antithetical to politics of waste and brigandage. Peeping into the future, he predicted that Dikson will finish well and strong. “The future is assured through strategic planning, innovative ideas and far-reaching human capital development. This is designed to create a quantum jump in socio-economic narrative of the state in due course. It will not be long, but it will have a lasting impact,” he added.

To achieve rural-urban integration, roads have been constructed to link remote communities with urban centres. The most significant road is the Sagbama/ Ekeremor road project, which was conceived 40 years ago. Joy was bold on the faces of residents when the project became a reality. Other projects include the Yenagoa-Ekeremor-Agge Road, covering a distance of 110 kilometers, the Yenagoa-Ogbia-Nembe-Brass Road and the Yenagoa-Oporoma-KoluamaRoad designed to open up the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District. Others are the dualised Diete Spiff Road, Azikoro Road, Eradiri Road, Amassoma/Tombia Road, Hero’s Park Access Road, dulaised Hospital Road, Ovom, the access road to Igbogene, the Restoration Flyover, Ogbia Nember Road, Bayelsa Palm Road, Swali/Oxbow-Lake Road, dualised Road Safety Road, Swali Roundabout, Toru-Orua Angalabiri Road, Toru-Ebeni/Ogobiri Road, dualised Water Board Road, Deeper Life Road and Justice Tabai Road.

Dickson has also constructed a super, ultra moden Government House in Yenagoa. Efforts are also being intensified on the Bayelsa International Cargo Airport. The contractor is ‘Dantata and Sawoe.’ It has a runway of 3.5 kilometers and 800 metres width. It is designed to boost the oil and agricultural potentials of the state. It is expected to be completed in May or June.

The ‘Operation Doo Akpo’ has contributed immensely to security in the state. There is a five minute-distress response time anywhere within Yenagoa.As a result of government investment in security, Bayelsa is adjudged one of the safest and peaceful states.

Despite being an oil-producing state, Dickson is looking at Bayelsa beyond oil. To diversify the economy of the state, agriculture has become a priority. Rice production is being promoted by government. The state has 4,000 hectares of rice farm at Peremabiri; 5,000 hectares at Isampor and 2,000 hectares at Kolo. The administration has partnered with Ostertrade Engineering and Manufacturing, KFT/DPP International APS, a Hungarian/Danish consortium, to establish a cassava starch processing plant with a capacity to produce 600 tons of industrial starch per annum and an out growers scheme of 600 hectares cassava farm. There is a seed multiplication farm on a 40 hectares land at Ebedbiri for the cassava farm. Also, Bayelsahas a palm plantation of 1,200 hectares, which could be expanded to 2, 000 hectares at its current location.